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On four occasions I have approached my parked vehicle to find that there is no power, not even enough to unlock the doors or even get a dim glow from any of the interior lights. A dead battery is certainly suspect as a jump start gets me up and running immediately. The real issue is what is draining the battery in the first place? The vehicle is driven every day and is parked making sure that it is not left in key position one. The doors are locked and for certain nothing is visibly (or audibly) draining the battery. After the third occurrence the vehicle was left with BMW technicians who were not able to find any problems or faults. I was advised to have the vehicle towed to them in it's gimped state the next time it happened but unfortunately the fourth time it occurred was late night on a Sunday, so the vehicle was jump started once again. Interestingly, as I approached the vehicle that fourth time, ALL the lights were on including the instrumentation lights. How could this even happen? Comfort access phenomena? As soon as I pressed the start button, all the lights went out and the car was once again in what my wife calls "the coma."

A trip to BMW the next day was rewarded only by a lesson in BMW's "power management" for that vehicle and instructions on how to properly exit the vehicle by pressing the start button twice else the car is still "on" and would/could be the problem. I would have left happy and confident that this was the problem if it happened only once but four times within a month and zero occurrences the prior year is not logical. Please help or comment with any solutions or perhaps voodoo like rituals to correct this. 14k miles.

How long have you had the car? You may have a Lemon Law claim if you are still within the jurisdictional period for Lemon Law claims (generally 18 months/18,000 miles in CA; but there can be exceptions).

Being lectured on how to properly exit your car is a bit much. I wonder if they would care to give the same lecture in a Lemon Law proceeding?

On four occasions I have approached my parked vehicle to find that there is no power, not even enough to unlock the doors or even get a dim glow from any of the interior lights. A dead battery is certainly suspect as a jump start gets me up and running immediately. The real issue is what is draining the battery in the first place? The vehicle is driven every day and is parked making sure that it is not left in key position one. The doors are locked and for certain nothing is visibly (or audibly) draining the battery. After the third occurrence the vehicle was left with BMW technicians who were not able to find any problems or faults. I was advised to have the vehicle towed to them in it's gimped state the next time it happened but unfortunately the fourth time it occurred was late night on a Sunday, so the vehicle was jump started once again. Interestingly, as I approached the vehicle that fourth time, ALL the lights were on including the instrumentation lights. How could this even happen? Comfort access phenomena? As soon as I pressed the start button, all the lights went out and the car was once again in what my wife calls "the coma."

A trip to BMW the next day was rewarded only by a lesson in BMW's "power management" for that vehicle and instructions on how to properly exit the vehicle by pressing the start button twice else the car is still "on" and would/could be the problem. I would have left happy and confident that this was the problem if it happened only once but four times within a month and zero occurrences the prior year is not logical. Please help or comment with any solutions or perhaps voodoo like rituals to correct this. 14k miles.

have the battery load tested and the terminals checked. go to autozone, or pepboys, they do free load testing. if the test comes up bad, next stop is the dealer to get them to replace the battery under warranty.

once you CA lock the door, the car should go into sleep mode.

my bro had this problem on his car (E46) car would just not start, alarm would go off, even after driving for hours. turns out his terminals were loose, and the battery was not charging properly. torquing the clamps fixed it.

Thank you Orient for your response. The load testing was done when I brought the ailing machine into BMW but nothing tested was outside of normal parameters. The car was definitely "sleeping" as I had to bust out the secret manual key from the FOB to unlock the door. It's for sure not a slow drain on the battery. anE934fun, thank you for your reply as well... I have had the vehicle less than 18 months but at this time I'm not quite angry enough to be thinking of lemons although the idea has now been seeded. I love the car too much.. perhaps grapes is my mental position at the moment.

he load testing was done when I brought the ailing machine into BMW but nothing tested was outside of normal parameters.

There are only two possibilities for a dead battery. There is a parasitic load draining the battery or the battery is bad (could, for example, have a bad internal connection and the jumper cables jiggle things enough to reconnect--I had that problem once, drove me crazy). Or there is a loose connection somewhere that connects when things are jiggled. Or some other electronic fault.

If you have a voltmeter, next time car dies, measure the battery voltage before you do anything. If less than 12V, it is a battery problem. If ~13.2V, battery is probably fine (since you say they load tested it--if you can monitor the voltage while someone hits the starter you'll know for sure) and it is an external problem.

Point is, if there is a problem, saying nothing is wrong is not going to fix it. You will need to pursue this.

...I have had the vehicle less than 18 months but at this time I'm not quite angry enough to be thinking of lemons although the idea has now been seeded. I love the car too much.. perhaps grapes is my mental position at the moment.

It is not about going without.... Wouldn't you rather have the problem solved (as opposed to getting a lecture about the intelligent power system or how to exit the car properly)? The Lemon Law is a way to motivate the manufacturer to correct flaws in their cars; otherwise, they (the manufacturer) get to buy the car back.

You need to follow a process (4 attempts at a repair) in order to get the Lemon Law to kick in. There is also a *****back formula that reduces the amount the the manufacturer is required to pay you if it comes to a buy back, so you need to register the first attempt at a repair sooner than later. Presumably your recent visit to the dealer was the first attempt; now you have to take the car to 3 other dealers. If you don't get a repair that fixes the problem, on the third attempt, send a letter along to BMW corporate mentioning that you have not been able to get the car repaired and ask their assistance in getting the car repaired.

One of the options in a Lemon Law action is to swap your present car for a newer car. I believe the swap is referred to as a trade assist. Basically you get a credit (at current prices) for the way your car is equipped toward the price of a replacement car.

If you are still fuming at the arrogant treatment you received when you brought your car in to the present dealer, you might want to give some thought to pursuing a Lemon Law remedy. Your choice.

I have a fairly new '08 328xi.. since it is not a daily driver
(i have multiple vehicles) I like to keep it hooked up to a
trickle charger.. I find that this car consumes a lot of
electrical power.. After a few days of driving it is
hooked up to the trickle charger I find that it takes a few days for
the trickle charger to fully top it up.. My other vehicles
will get topped up either within minutes or several hours
max... Not sure if I have a parasitic loss or not, but given
how many gizmos and lights it has perhaps it's normal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrosen

There are only two possibilities for a dead battery. There is a parasitic load draining the battery or the battery is bad (could, for example, have a bad internal connection and the jumper cables jiggle things enough to reconnect--I had that problem once, drove me crazy). Or there is a loose connection somewhere that connects when things are jiggled. Or some other electronic fault.

If you have a voltmeter, next time car dies, measure the battery voltage before you do anything. If less than 12V, it is a battery problem. If ~13.2V, battery is probably fine (since you say they load tested it--if you can monitor the voltage while someone hits the starter you'll know for sure) and it is an external problem.

Point is, if there is a problem, saying nothing is wrong is not going to fix it. You will need to pursue this.

I have a fairly new '08 328xi.. since it is not a daily driver
(i have multiple vehicles) I like to keep it hooked up to a
trickle charger.. I find that this car consumes a lot of
electrical power.. After a few days of driving it is
hooked up to the trickle charger I find that it takes a few days for
the trickle charger to fully top it up.. My other vehicles
will get topped up either within minutes or several hours
max... Not sure if I have a parasitic loss or not, but given
how many gizmos and lights it has perhaps it's normal.

i hope the trickle charger you use hooks directly to the battery and does not go through the cig outlet.

I would have the dealership hold the car over the weekend and have them give you a rental. Let the car sit over the weekend and then have them check the computer module. They should be able to tell you where the drain is. My car did the same thing and it took 3 trips to the dealer until they figured it out. Keep after them until they figure it out.